1,674. The Obligation to Support a Stepdaughter

Hilchos Ishus 23:17

If a man marries a woman and commits to support her daughter for a certain number of years, he is obligated to do so for all the years that he committed so long as his commitment was made at the time of betrothal. If he made the commitment when the marriage was completed, then his commitment is not binding until he performs an act of acquisition (kinyan) or writes her a contract; this will be discussed further in the laws of transactions, IY”H. Let’s say that the couple divorces within the time that the husband committed to support the wife’s daughter, then she married another man who also committed to support the daughter for a certain number of years. In such a case, the first husband does not have the option to say that he will only support the daughter if she comes to live in his house. Rather, he must bring her maintenance to the place where she lives with her mother. Similarly, the two husbands do not have the option to jointly support the daughter. Rather, one of them must provide her maintenance and the other must provide its financial equivalent.

Hilchos Ishus 23:18

If the woman’s daughter marries during the time in which her stepfathers committed to support her, then her own husband must provide her maintenance and her stepfathers must each provide its financial equivalent. If the stepfathers die, and if they confirmed their obligation through an act of acquisition or a written contract, then the daughter is considered a creditor with a document and she has the option to collect what she is owed from property that has been sold until the end of the commitment period. If the commitment was made when the marriage was finalized and it was not accompanied by an act of acquisition, then it is an agreement that was not intended to be written down and the daughter cannot seize property from the buyers to pay the debt.